Malai Kofta

This Malai Kofta recipe tastes like it’s straight out of a restaurant. What’s not to love about deep fried vegetable dumplings floating in sea of rich, creamy curry?

When it comes to eating out at an Indian restaurants, malai kofta is to vegetarians what butter chicken is to us meat eaters. They’re equally good but in different ways. Truthfully, if I HAD to choose… I think the malai kofta would win. Yup, I went there.

This dish is fit for a king. Literally. Malai Kofta is part of Mughlai cuisine, a style of cooking that developed in royal kitchens during the Mughal era in India. Mughlai cuisine is known for its use of rich ingredients including nuts, cream, butter and dried fruit. Malai Kofta is typically made with “malai” which means heavy cream and and koftas, which are deep fried vegetarian “meatballs.” For this recipe, I use the cream from a can of refrigerated coconut milk.

The koftas are made of mashed vegetables, sweet potato and chopped cashews. The cashews give the meatballs texture which goes perfectly with the creaminess of the dish. Serve this alongside naan, roti or a paratha.

This dish is really simple to make – BUT – it takes time. That’s because you have to first make the veggie balls, roll them in tapioca flour and then shallow fry them. Then you have to make the curry. If you don’t want to do all of this in one day, you can make the veggie balls in advance. I think they taste best when fresh, but I’ll sometimes fry these koftas a day or two before making the curry – and they’re still crazy good.

make the veggie balls, roll them in tapioca flour and then shallow/deep fry

If you’re looking to impress dinner guests, this recipe is sure to do it. Enjoy! 🙂

Hello Ashley…Il love your site – thank you for these recipes. I had a problem with the dumplings though – are you supposed to add 1/2 cup of tapioca flour to the veggies and then roll them in more? Or just roll them? It wasn’t clear – it said add everything from that list of ingredients. My balls were really soft and gooey. First, I didn’t add any flour – just rolled them…but it was like trying to roll oatmeal. I then added some flour and eventually kind of plopped them into the oil. They didn’t look like yours…what did I do wrong? Thanks!

Dawn, thank you for the message! I’m so sorry about the confusion – you don’t add the tapioca flour to the balls, you roll the balls in the flour. I removed the tapioca flour and avocado oil from underneath the kofta ingredients to hopefully clear that up. I hope you’ll try making the dumplings again – they are worth the effort! Please let me know if you have any more questions!

Thank you for your reply! I think what I may have done wrong…is I cooked the carrots as well as the pes beforehand…in fact, I probably overcooked them. When I looked at your picture, I can see that those are likely raw carrots. That would explain why it was too watery. Everything else turned out really well and even the balls were really tasty and i will definately make this again!! I use your paleo naan recipe constantly and everyone I have made it for falls in love with it – even regular bread eaters! I can’t wait to try more of the recipes on your blog – thank you again. 🙂

Hi Rebecca, I think this recipe will easily serve 4 but I suppose that also depends on how hungry you all are and what other dishes you’re serving. I’d suggest doubling the recipe just in case – if anything, you’ll have delicious leftovers! 🙂 Let me know how this turns out for you!

I can’t wait to try this recipe!! I’ve been gluten free (health issues) for almost two years and paleo for more than a year. I’ve loved trying new recipes but your site has me excited all over again. I found it two weeks ago and since then I’ve made your Navratan Korma, Naan and Pizza Crust. My husband is much pickier than I am and he has loved them all. The Naan & pizza crust are really the best ‘bread’ substitutes we’ve had. I’ve got your blender brownies in the oven right now and can’t wait. Thanks!

Suzanne, thank you so much for leaving me this comment! I’m so happy you’ve made so many of my recipes and that you and your hubby both love them! How did the blender brownies turn out for you? I hope you both love the malai kofta! 🙂

The brownies were great. They are the best modified version of brownies that I’ve made so far. My husband’s family has a favorite family cake that has layers of chocolate cake and a whipped cream icing. We can’t eat it anymore but I made up a batch of coconut milk whipped cream to pair with the remaining brownies —- soooo good. 🙂

This is one amazing dish. The koftas themselves are awesomeness defined. I had to really fight temptation to finish them of while I was making the curry sauce gravy, which when I licked my fingers while pureeing it couldn’t believe the taste. Combining the two wow then adding coconut cream. Then to have it with the paleo naan ooooohhhh. This is THE best paleo dish I have eaten thus far and I this far afar I have to go to get something comparable to this. Amazing. Wonderful. Fantastic. Awesomeness defined!

This recipe looks great, and I am excited to make it Saturday! I have made quite a few of your recipes and have loved them all. I just wanted to clarify that the 2 diced carrots do not get cooked with the frozen peas/mixed veggies? Do they just get chopped and thrown into the food processor with them? Thank you!

Joelle, so glad you like my recipes 🙂 As for the carrots – they do get cooked and mashed with the peas. I tried to re-write the directions to avoid any confusion, please let me know how this turns out for you!

Ah-Maze-Ing. Amazing. My wife and I tagged teamed it. MMM is what I think when I remember eating them five minutes ago. We were trying to replicate one of our favorite Indian dishes that we’d order at restaurants. This recipe came so very, very close and had my eyes rolling back in my head with pure, hedonistic pleasure. The sweet potato/coconut cream mixture make this a decadent, dessert-like-yet-savory entree. I accidentally mixed up the amounts of coconut cream, so our koftas were extra creamy and it was still authentic tasting. This has instantly become one of our favorite recipes.
This dish wakes up every taste bud on your tongue.

Ah-Maze-Ing. Amazing. My wife and I tagged teamed it. MMM is what I think when I remember eating them five minutes ago. We were trying to replicate one of our favorite Indian dishes that we’d order at restaurants. This recipe came so very, very close and had my eyes rolling back in my head with pure, hedonistic pleasure. The sweet potato/coconut cream mixture make this a decadent, dessert-like-yet-savory entree. I accidentally mixed up the amounts of coconut cream, so our koftas were extra creamy and it was still authentic tasting. This has instantly become one of our favorite recipes.

Hi Ashley, I wanted to make this but I think I´ll only be able to get black poppy seeds, no white ones around here. I live in Spain and Amazon doesn´t ship many things here, not to mention it would take a long time to receive it. I don´t suppose the black ones are a good substitute? Thanks for all the yummy recipes!

Hello Ashley, thank you so much for this recipie! I fell in love with Malai Koftas at a local restaurant many years ago and no matter where I went and it was on the menu I tried it …never the same! We moved from that area to another state and I have craved M.K for years. I cooked your version last night added spinach instead of peas to the kofta and as we are not chili fans only added a tiny pinch of chili. I also added spinach chopped and coarsely chopped cashews to the sauce. YOU NAILED IT! Its now a must do in our household. Thank you so much.

Yum! l would love to make this but don’t have poppy seeds on hand. Could I take it out completely? But would it make a huge difference in taste? If you have any other recommendations for replacement – that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for sharing this recipe 😊

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[…] kebab is similar to the shami kebab, which is also made of minced meat. Like my shami kebab and malai kofta recipes, this seekh kebab is part of Mughlai cuisine (aka dishes brought to India by Mughal rulers […]

South Asian Persuasion

by Ashley Singh Thomas

Miss eating your favorite Indian recipes now that you're gluten-free? This eBook includes 100+ north Indian and south Indian recipes that have been converted to be Paleo-friendly! These recipes are so flavorful that you'll never get bored following your new, healthier lifestyle!